Ashley Wood 3A Stuff

Ugh, here I go again. Another line has grabbed at my interest, but I am trying not to bite too heavily. These toys just seem too well-done not to at least have one representation in my collection. There are Large Martins in the WWRP line coming out soon. $50 is a decent price, but I'd prefer to get into these at a lower rate.

Anyone got any of the WWRP line that they don't care to hold on to at this time? Really only looking for the 1/12 scale, and only the robots. Thanks!

Ah, got my sanity back, at least temporarily. I cancelled my preorder at BBTS. I'm totally not a gritty realist guy, but damn they look awfully nice. I just have other things I really do want my money for, and when it comes down to it, I just don't see spending that much on one. I'd love to have one for work to just fiddle with while I'm on the phone or something, but $50 is too much for something like that. Oh well, at least that's $50 I didn't spend.

Yeah the Wood stuff gets pricey. Regan has loved his work forever, and I got her the Popbot 3 set for xmas... 450.00 later. Ugh. His designs are cool, but some of the most expensive new stuff out there.

Yeah, atease and Ben collect this stuff (or at least used to). I would listen to their stories. Sounded...stressful. And I guess their board is a bunch of smiling/nodding yahoos. Not that one is obligated to take part, of course...

Well, there's not much stress involved in pre-ordering a $50 toy from BBTS. Not that I can drop $50 regularly, but that's no big deal. There's no way I could afford to do the big scale figs there. They are huge and pricey. Like I said, I'd probably nab one of these and fiddle with it at my desk. My stuff at home tends to be actual "toy toys" that my kids and I can play with together. The number of "collector's items" is really fairly small. These wouldn't be able to make their way into the kids' hands. I guess I like his stuff from a robot standpoint becuase it's basically what I'd like to be designing myself, with it just cutesified up a bit and made less violent. If one of the smaller scale ones was in the $40 and under range, I'd nab it immediately and leave it at that - a nice conversation piece for the desk at work.

$50 for the Portable scale Large Martins is a steal. It's tough to really appreciate just how nicely done they are until you get them in hand. The Martin has the advantage that it's big and chunky, and nearly impossible to break. Get that preorder back on, because the price on these toys only goes up, and there really aren't 'deals' to be had on the secondary market.

I'm lucky in that I'm not one of those people who typically wants multiple variants of the same mold (I have only one Valkyrie, for example, and only need one). I want the experience of the toy, rather than the collection of it sitting on my shelf. So, I would think one of these ought to do the trick. Hopefully.

Sanjeev Wrote:
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> fujikuro Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ...I want the experience of the toy,
> > rather than the collection of it sitting on my
> > shelf...
>
> This hobby needs more people like you. ;)

Hah, I still have some completist bents, but normally I just don't see a reason to own multiples of the same mold. I make some exceptions for cheap toys like some of the Classics TFs or original G1 toys. And it doesn't bother me that MOTU toys are frequently just mishmashes of the same old arms legs and what-have-you. But I definitely need something to be somewhat unique in order for me to get excited for it.

I did go back and pre-ordered the one above. Apparently I nabbed the very last one from BBTS, because it's now listed as out of stock. The only things I see from this line that I really want are the Large Martin above, and one of the Bertie's with the Square2 companion. Other than those, the Brambles look OK, but not nearly as nice to my eyes as these more blocky chunky 'bots. Sideshow has their "Waiting List:" for some of these, so I placed myself on it for this guy:

Yeah. $50 a shot on any WWRp is already a deal. Since 3A make it clear that they never reissue a paint variant twice, all of these stuff end up skyrocketing in price once they are out and low in stock. I have a small medic team of the 1/12 ones (one Bertie, one Square, a Bramble, a Armstong, all lead by a NOM). They are very nice indeed. Fully articulated fingers, very snug joints and good balance all around. Aweseom thick layered paint weathering that you can feel the texture buildup. Minor gripes are the tiny pouches sometimes don't stay on very well, and if the gun is huge, it might be too much to be held single handed.

This is a great line to collect, at least a sample of robots you fancy, and build up a small team. The 1/6 ones are just way too big for play.

I do want to get my hands on one of those little Square2's. Wish this stuff wasn't sold in such limited quantities. I'm not interested in the secondary market, as I'm just not willing to pay the outlandish prices. All I can hope is that Berties and Square2's get reissued at some point in the future.

There is a 'refresher' wave of Portable Brambles and I think Berties in new schemes for retail tentatively slated for this year. We'll see. This is really the year 3A needs to work on the business side of making awesome toys and start being timely and reliable.

The actual physical toys are intriguing, but the seemingly intentional shortages are a HUGE turn off.

Not that I'm a fan of this trend in designer Japanese vinyl, of course, but that crap's generally made by hand by ONE person...with a day job. These 3A toys are manufactured in enormous factories in China. No excuse.

Prometheum5 Wrote:
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> There is a 'refresher' wave of Portable Brambles
> and I think Berties in new schemes for retail
> tentatively slated for this year. We'll see.
> This is really the year 3A needs to work on the
> business side of making awesome toys and start
> being timely and reliable.

As someone who's never going to be any sort of completist with this, delays don't bother as much as long as the intended toy(s) actually gets produced. I waited around for the Fewture ES Gokin Getter, for example. I'm just pissed I didn't jump on the last round of Bertie's that I COULD have nabbed from BBTS for about $45 each. I thought about it then and promptly forgot. Also, earlier reports about the fragility of certain elements of the toys sort of put me off to them. Glad to see that Berties and Brambles will be back out later this year. I'll have a second chance for these then. Thanks for the info!

I have been a fan of the 3A stuff since it started, and yes the manufactured shortages are a pain, but to be honest I really haven't had too much trouble getting what I want...just have to be organized. I will say that playing catch-up on past products would be a nightmare, but I have found that most things resurface in a slightly different form after time...and in some cases with improvements. Bertie MkII is a good example of this...I will say that navigating the 3A forums is opaque at best however...

Hey if any of you are fans of 1/6th there is a TK up for preorder right now over at bambaland store...

Seriously considering a Popbot or Badbot, as a 14.5" toy for $130 seems like a decent value, when considerably smaller gokin toys go for a similar (or higher) price. I'd love to get my hands on one of the true large figures of the line, but I don't tend to have $300 just laying around.

I've read that 3A is supposedly to be expanding their 1/12" offerings, including some DIY line of robot toys with interchangeable bits. That's very interesting and something to look forward to. If only I knew how they went about getting their weathering effects.

Looking at your comments and being off put by a 1/12 Bertie + Square set in second hand market (range around $60-80 if you know where to look), you already went for a $130 Dropcloth soon after. :D

If they are going to have other waves of 1/12, by all means keep an eye on them. Preordering them early is the only way to go. And if you ever change your mind in keeping them, you can always sell them later, and almost guarantee to make a profit.

I personally like staying with the 1/12 scale. Easier on the wallet & shelf space, and has more paint variety than the 1/6 full size stuff.

Well, technically the Dropcloth was 90+ bucks, rather than 130. Still, it is more expensive, but bigger. $100 is an OK amount at this point, but I gotta feel like I'm getting value for my dollar. The price I paid for the Dropcloth was the retail price. Paying 80 bucks for a 45 dollar toy is where I get a little gunshy on buying one.

Also, as you said, the 3A stuff has actual staying power on the market, as opposed to, say, a CMs gokin. You'll always be able to find them for around $100 less than retail about a year later, where the 3A stuff will cost lots more later.

I'd love to see a 1/12 Dropcloth as well. And, yes, I can totally see the need to beware of the addictive nature of these. From the gushing comments in Youtube reviews and on other sites, they are a thing of beauty to hold and own.

I fell in with the 1/6th scale crowd with the 3A stuff (they look pretty kick ass next to other 1/6th scale figures...and at the moment I have Kaneda and Tetsuo fighting it out with zombies and robots), but fortunately I have the room to display them...To be honest I have never really thought that these were outrageously priced considering how much HT and Medicom figures are going for these days. Dropcloth can be found for right under $100 and looks amazing on a shelf...I have also found that if you can grab a couple of figures at a time when the do a new preorder then it isn't too hard to swing a trade for something you missed. Like I said before, the 3A board is opaque at best, but overall fairly friendly and helpful...

Oh and the other thing is that if you are a completest then forget even getting involved with 3A. The variations, chase figures, special event releases, and blind boxing will drive you to madness and bankruptcy...and that doesn't even include their collector club editions...My strategy is to nab one version of each release. I also have managed to limit myself to one scale, but if that 1/35 tactical scale WWR stuff starts showing up I will probably cave...

As for CMs releases, does anyone actually preorder their stuff any more. I always wait until it hits 50% clearance before I bite. Haven't missed out on anything that I really wanted doing it this way. Well, except the Pickl vinyl but that was more operator error than anything...It'll show up again somewhere.

OK, received my Dropcloth last night. God, this thing is big! It's in the same size-range as many of the Brave toys, and is perhaps a bit taller. Being a vinyl toy, it is pretty light, but given the fit and finish, it's hard to not think that this is one of the best buys for my $100 that I've had in a long time. Sure beats the pants off of MP Hot Rod. Here's a quick cell snap of Dropcloth "cradling" Jet Jaguar for the sake of scale and comparison of vinyl toys...

fujikuro: Nice picture...I'll forgive the Cavaliers pennant for the sake of roboty coolness...There has been a lot of talk on other forums that the 3A stuff is too expensive, but I'm with you $100 is not a bad deal for paintwork this nice. Especially considering how much $$$ other 1/6th figures are going for these days. There isn't a looser among the different variants. I personally like the camo one with the paratrooper like machine gun...You are now on a very slippery slope...

Prometheum5 Wrote:
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> The blanks are always limited or special releases,
> so really, if you're wanting to paint one, you
> might as well just paint a production one.

So, then the question is, what kind of paint do you think they're using for these? I've tried getting weathering effects before, but I've always been limited to using acrylics (I just hate the cleanup on non-water based paints), and they just don't seem to do the trick.

I nabbed myself a WWRP Dawn Patrol Armstrong, and while it's a nice design as a robot, the color scheme leaves a bit to be desired. I have a couple ideas for painting it up in my own scheme, but I'm always hesitant to go painting over an already painted object.

They're using crazy production paints that you can only get in China... no different from Glyos toys with near-unchippable PVC paints from the factory. I've only had one 3A toy with chipped paint, and that was coloring on a 1/6 body where the paint seemed to be a bit chalky for some reason. You can do a hell of a lot with one kind of paint on a figure. In the modeling world, we use all sorts of mixed materials and techniques because we have the luxury of time to produce exactly the effects we are looking for. When I weather up something these days, it's a combination of acrylics, oils, and weathering pigments, but that's not practical for a production toy. I think the 3A guys are using the same kinds of paints any other toy factory around them would be, but they're using the paints differently, and extremely well.

Funny you should mention the Dawn Patrol Armstrong, as that was one of my favorites from the drop, and part of what made my decision on which pack to grab when they dropped. The mix of the SAS Pink Panther colors with a classic Spitfire motif is killer, and makes total sense for a flight-enabled bot.

>
> Just make sure your never painting over an oil
> based paint with acrylic.
>
> I have painter friends who still wonder why their
> canvases are flaking when they do mixed media in
> the wrong sequence. ;-)

Hard to believe people make that mistake but they do. Hell, we had oil painted walls in our house and had to do all kinds of prep work in order to get them painted.

Ass it is, I'd really have to have some serious confidence that I could manage to make it look good enough to make it worth covering up such a nice paintjob in the first place. I'm pretty decent at painting, but THAT good? Eh, not so much...

The addiction with these is hard to stifle, but I gave in and ordered the Barguest de Plume fig off of Bambaland last night. I've never owned a 1/6th human figure before, so it ought to be interesting. In addition, it seemed like a fairly safe bet, as the 3A stuff seems generally to be worth a lot more on the secondary market. So, I figured if I really didn't enjoy it all that much I'd likely be able to get back what I bought it for fairly easily.

I think you will dig him, especially if you like stuff with good paint jobs. I have one of the previous De Plumes and he is a ton of fun to pose with other toys...He'll look good with your Drop cloth....

I randomly sat down at my computer about half an hour ago (~8:45PM), and Ben was online. Via gchat, he told me these Japan-relief robots were going on sale in 15 minutes. I was like, bet...I'll throw down. It's for a good cause and I've been meaning to check one of these toys out...

9:02 rolls around and the site becomes MAD slow from all the hooters (including myself, of course) refreshing. I get the signal from Ben that they're up...so I immediately place my order. Every step takes forever to load, but we both scored one after wrestling with the site for a couple minutes.

What got me was that as soon as I completed the order, I went right back to the main page...and it was like it was never there. That shit was straight up Nicolas Cage...

Now...what are the odds it'll actually come out in June, like they say...???

Eh, I'm actually seriously thinking of picking up another Dropcloth. I said I wasn't interested in multiples of a single mold, but I have to be honest - I don't think I've played with a single toy as much as I have with this guy in years. I love my TFs, but man I don't mess with them nearly as much as I do with this guy. Looking at possibly a Deimos Liberator. Then again, I'm also wanting a Popbot or Badbot. Not sure which to get, since though I prefer the Popbot color scheme, Badbot actually has two hands (and pistols). Ben, got any advice here? ;)

Haha, well, I don't own any Popbots, as I'm not sure keen on the design and haven't read the comic yet, but I do have two Dropcloths and love them. I've been tempted to get the Deimos Liberator as a third as well because it comes with the SMG instead of the Shotguns the two I have came with (Red and EMGY). Looking forward to Portable DCs for sure! People seem to be really pleased with their Popbots, though, and it's a similar but different design, so I'd bet you would similarly enjoy it without having to break your mold duplicate rule.

Well, the Deimos is "slightly" different in that it does come with different weaponry. But I might just have to break that rule anyway. Some of these are just too cool to do otherwise with. The DCs are affordable as it goes. I just wish the other 'bots in 1/6 were more in my budget.

fujikuro Wrote:
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> Well, the Deimos is "slightly" different in that
> it does come with different weaponry. But I might
> just have to break that rule anyway. Some of
> these are just too cool to do otherwise with. The
> DCs are affordable as it goes. I just wish the
> other 'bots in 1/6 were more in my budget.

Well, the next smallest bot in 1/6 is about six times as massive ;) I have the Large Martin to go with my Slim Red DC, and they look fantastic together, but man do they take up space. Also have a Nightwatch Heavy Bramble on the way...

Yeah, I think if I could pull the scratch together, I would actually put in a pre-order for one of the retail Heavy Brambles. WWRp are more in the size-range I'd like, but I have to say the 1/6 DC really has put me in a different mind-set about that.